Your Voice, Inc.

Tell me something new.  Give me a tool or strategy that did not occur to me.  I want to walk away feeling as though I traded my time for value.

Have you ever picked up a “7 Strategies” or “10 Principles” type book and scanned the table of contents or flipped through the book hoping to find a gem or knowledge nugget that could be an a-ha moment for you?  You are not alone.  We all want to learn more and with the accessibility of information online and our need for instant gratification, it appears as though we are commitment phobic when it comes to purchasing products and making the time to sit quietly and actually read them.

The Answer: the tele-seminar.  I prefer to speak and learn in bullet points with a story or two, and I retain more information through auditory means.  Give me a concise format with clear explanations and I am a fan (or follower) for life.  Those were the motivating factors for why I started signing up for any tele-seminar that I thought might teach me something, spur my creativity, or increase the value I bring to my clients.

What I found was that some of these classes added value and others just appeared to be a means to obtain more names for a mailing list.  For those of you who are motivated simply by the latter, may this serve as a wake up call because your audience is brighter than you give them credit for.

Planning to create content for your tele-seminar?

Here are some of my observations, not as an expert creator, but as an avid, engaged participant.

•    What grade are you? Rate your own content.  Are you providing guidance for amateurs, intermediates, or advanced participants?  Consider your audience when you decide what to share.  For instance, is this a follow up to another call or live speaking engagement?  Have you covered a lot of the material in your newsletter or ezine which they already receive?  You can always break up your sessions into different levels which will keep the beginner coming back, while it respects the more advanced student’s time.

•    What’s on your mind? Solicit questions prior to the call.  By asking for questions in advance, you not only pre-qualify the existing knowledge base of your caller, but you personalize the seminar.  Anyone who took the time to send in a question will make it a point of not missing the class.  When you send out the reminder email it would be great to see what questions you have already received which further peaks the interest of your audience.

•    This is a story about…. Please do not read from a script.  Notes are great, but a script is too much.  The audience can tell and they will perceive you as an amateur.  This is your content, your passion, and they are listening to you because they believe you to be the expert.  Step up and speak from the heart and the mind.

•    And the Oscar goes to…. The other side of that issue is when the facilitator sounds as if he/she is either a television product spokesperson or drank too much of the Kool-aid.  Be yourself, please.  Most participants in a tele-seminar are turned off by the fully-animated hard sell.  Add value in a smart, relaxed yet engaged manner.

•   I see clearly now…. Not all of the audience will be strong auditory learners, therefore if you have content that lends itself well to a worksheet, send it out with the email reminder for the call.  Taking notes and filling out sections of a short tool-kit will not only help retention but it will be a tangible reminder of you, the call and your expertise.

•    Seen but not heard. Offer the webinar option.  The idea of using up cell phone minutes or incurring long distance charges on their phone may not be the most economical for some of your listeners.  Being able to listen to the call from a PC or laptop is a great alternative.  Although it limits input from the audience, webinars allow you to have more people on the call who would normally not participate.  More ears and eyeballs is the goal, isn’t it?

•    What was that again? Record the session and send it out to those who participated.  They may have been driving, preparing dinner, or just simply missed a concept and want to go back and review a portion of the call.

As a future fan of your tele-seminars, I ask you to please, concentrate on delivering gems and your expert status will be well-deserved.